Chile: Grapes, blueberries, and cherries at the PMA Breakfast Seminar

Chile is the world's leading exporter of table grapes, and has more hectares devoted to this fruit than to any other fruit. Cherries reached historical levels in the 2017/18 season, with a record export of 185 thousand tons worth US $804 million, i.e. 93% and 80% more, respectively, than in the previous period. The blueberries, which have been classified as a Chilean super fruit, also achieved a record, as the country exported 110 thousand tons of this product.

These three Chilean fruits face important challenges. The grape, for example, faces challenges involving cost control, variety replacement, and imitating some good practices that are carried out in other producing countries.

The season's analysis and the projections in a global and dynamic industry is the topic to be discussed in a new Breakfast Seminar of the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) that will take place this Tuesday, August 21 at Hotel Intercontinental.

One of the speakers at the event, Juan Colombo, who is the general manager of Subsole, said that the global grape industry was in a transition stage that required making major changes in terms of production, operation and trade. "We must make changes quickly," he said, as prices have become stable because the fruit is available 52 weeks a year, which doesn't always match the specific needs of the companies.

"The grape, cherry, and blueberry sectors are facing constant change, which may come from new producers, market changes, consumption changes, regulations, or bilateral or global agreements. We'll try to present the current situation, so that producers can create a strategy to face the future," added Andres Rodriguez, a representative of PMA in Chile.

"The Breakfast Seminars are an important source of knowledge for the fruit industry, because they allow producers to keep up with the sector's main trends and allow them to engage in discussions about very important issues, such as the main innovations in packaging, new technologies, and sustainability, among other things. In short, these are events that allow producers to get valuable information to develop their businesses," he said.